Organic optoelectronic devices and methods
First Claim
1. An optoelectronic device formed by a process comprising the steps of:
- (a) providing a chamber (23) having an interior (24);
(b) placing a substrate (32) in said chamber (23);
(c) maintaining said interior (24) of said chamber (23) at a pressure less than about 10-6 Torr;
(d) placing a first source material (36) in said chamber (23), said first source material (36) being a planar crystalline organic aromatic semiconductor and selected from the group of organic compounds consisting of polyacenes and porphyrins and derivatives thereof;
(e) placing a second source material (38) in said chamber (23), said second source material (38) being a planar crystalline organic aromatic semiconductor, said second source material (38) having a generally different chemical composition from said first source material (36) and selected from the group of organic compounds consisting of polyacenes and porphyrins and derivatives thereof;
(f) depositing a layer of said first source material (36) on top of said substrate (32) by heating said first source material (36);
(g) depositing a layer of said second source material (38) on top of said first source material (38) by heating said second source material (38); and
(h) maintaining said substrate (32) at a temperature during deposition sufficient to provide good morphology, sharp interfaces between layers, and single crystalline layers of said first and second materials.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Organic optoelectronic devices, such as a modulator (54) and a photodetector (73) comprising alternating layers (58) of two crystalline planar organic aromatic semiconductors (60 and 62), have been grown by organic molecular beam deposition. These organic substances have been deposited in ultra-thin layers only 10 Å in depth using organic molecular beam deposition methods. Due to the anisotropic character of these organic materials,, the devices formed using these methods possess unique electronic and optical properties. The preferred embodiment of the invention utilizes 3,4,9,10-perylenetetracarboxylic dianhydride (PTCDA) and 3,4,7,8-naphthalenetetracarboxylic dianhydride (NTCDA). While the inventors have identified PTCDA and NTCDA as excellent materials for the manufacture of organic optoelectronic IC devices, the broad scope of the present invention encompasses the use of any planar organic aromatic semiconductor which readily forms a crystalline structure. The preferred method of the invention employs a chamber (23) containing an inorganic substrate (32) with appropriate material for making electrical contact to the organic structures and sources of PTCDA (36) and NTCDA (38). The chamber (23) is maintained at a pressure which is generally less than 10.sup. -6 Torr. The substrate (32) is separated from the source materials by a minimum separation distance of 10 cm. The substrate (32) is held below 150K while the PTCDA and NTCDA are alternately heated. The methods described above may also be employed to fabricate an organic phototransistor/photodetector (78).
162 Citations
35 Claims
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1. An optoelectronic device formed by a process comprising the steps of:
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(a) providing a chamber (23) having an interior (24); (b) placing a substrate (32) in said chamber (23); (c) maintaining said interior (24) of said chamber (23) at a pressure less than about 10-6 Torr; (d) placing a first source material (36) in said chamber (23), said first source material (36) being a planar crystalline organic aromatic semiconductor and selected from the group of organic compounds consisting of polyacenes and porphyrins and derivatives thereof; (e) placing a second source material (38) in said chamber (23), said second source material (38) being a planar crystalline organic aromatic semiconductor, said second source material (38) having a generally different chemical composition from said first source material (36) and selected from the group of organic compounds consisting of polyacenes and porphyrins and derivatives thereof; (f) depositing a layer of said first source material (36) on top of said substrate (32) by heating said first source material (36); (g) depositing a layer of said second source material (38) on top of said first source material (38) by heating said second source material (38); and (h) maintaining said substrate (32) at a temperature during deposition sufficient to provide good morphology, sharp interfaces between layers, and single crystalline layers of said first and second materials. - View Dependent Claims (33)
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2. A quasi-epitaxial optoelectronic device comprising:
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(a) a substrate (32); (b) a first layer (60) deposited on top of said substrate (32), said first layer (60) comprising a planar crystalline organic aromatic semiconductor and selected from the group of organic compounds consisting of polyacenes and porphyrins and derivatives thereof; and (c) a second layer (62) deposited on top of said first layer (60), said second layer (62) comprising a planar crystalline organic aromatic semiconductor, said second layer (62) having a generally different chemical composition than said first layer (60) and selected from the group of organic compounds consisting of polyacenes and porphyrins and derivatives thereof, said first (60) and second (62) layers having crystal structures in an ordered relationship with respect to each other. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 34)
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7. An organic multiple quantum well light modulator (54) comrpising:
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(a) a substrate layer (56); (b) a plurality of alternating layers (58) of a first (60) and a second (62) planar crystalline organic aromatic semiconductor material, said second (62) planar crystalline organic aromatic semiconductor material having a generally different chemical composition than said first (60) planar crystalline organic aromatic semiconductor material, said first and second planar organic semiconductor materials selected from the group of organic compounds consisting of polyacenes and porphyrins and derivatives thereof; (c) said plurality of alternating layers (58) of said first (60) and said second (62) planar crystalline organic aromatic semiconductor materials located on top of said substrate layer (56); (d) an additional layer (64) of said first (60) planar crystalline organic aromatic semiconductor material located on top of said plurality of alternating layers (58); (e) a cap layer (66) disposed to collect photons (71); (f) a ground lead (68) connected to said substrate layer (56); and (g) a voltage lead (70) connected to said cap layer (66). - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. An organic multiple quantum well photodetector (73) comprising:
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(a) a substrate layer (74); (b) a plurality of alternating layers (58) of a first (60) and a second (62) planar crystalline organic aromatic semiconductor materials, said second (62) planar organic aromatic semiconductor material having a generally different chemical composition than said first (60) planar organic aromatic semiconductor material, said plurality of alternating layers (58) of said first (60) and said second (62) organic aromatic semiconductor materials located on top of said substrate layer (74), said first and second planar organic semiconductor materials selected from the group of organic compounds consisting of polyacenes and porphyrins and derivatives thereof; (c) an additional layer (64) of said first (60) planar organic aromatic semiconductor material located on top of said plurality of alternating layers (58); (d) a cap layer (78) disposed to collect photons (71);
said cap layer (78) being formed from a tin indium oxide (ITO) material;(e) a ground lead (68) connected to said substrate layer (74); and (f) a voltage lead (70) connected to said cap layer (78). - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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- 22. A bipolar transistor formed on a substrate (80, 80'"'"') and comprising three layers (84, 86, 88, 84'"'"', 86'"'"', 88'"'"') of semiconductor material, at least one of which layers comprises a planar crystalline organic aromatic semiconductor material selected from the group of organic compounds consisting of polyacenes and porphyrins and derivatives thereof, with appropriate contacts (82, 90, 82'"'"', 89, 90'"'"') made to at least two layers thereof.
Specification